You Have Stolen My Heart
by ohsugar
Summary: Clare and Eli are best friends. Eli loves Clare, but she's oblivious to that fact. Does Clare feel the same way? Slightly OOC/AU. One-shot set to the song "Stolen" by Dashboard Confessional.


**Author's Note: **I thought of this one-shot when I was listening to the song "Stolen" by Dashboard Confessional. Clare and Eli are just friends but Eli is in love with Clare. Eli and Clare are both a little OOC and it's in Eli's POV. It's my first song fic so I hope you like it!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Degrassi or "Stolen."

* * *

We_ watch the season pull up its own stakes_

_And catch the last weekend of the last week_

_Before the gold and the glimmer have been replaced,_

_Another sun soaked season fades away_

_You have stolen my heart_

_You have stolen my heart_

It was the first week of school and the crisp fall weather was making its official debut. Summer had faded away and I watched with ample curiosity as Clare ran excitedly from Degrassi to the park three blocks away. She flat out refused a ride in Morty, claiming her "feet could take her faster due to the adrenaline rush." I don't know what it is about Clare and school, but she gets way too excited. She acts like she's just won the lottery or something. She gets even more excited about going to the park. It's actually kind of adorable. I know what you're thinking, "did Eli Goldsworthy, hearse-driving-black-obsessor just say adorable?" Yeah, I did. When it comes to Clare, I make exceptions, no matter how cheesy and uncharacteristic of me they may be.

I drove over to the park after stopping at The Dot for some coffee and saw Clare sitting on one of the benches with a huge smile on her face.

"Why so happy?" I asked her with a smirk.

"It's fall! It's officially fall! The summer season has gone away and we get this wonderful weather! It's not too cold, it's not too hot. I mean, just smell the air. It smells like fall!" Clare said as she literally sniffed the air.

I couldn't help but chuckle at her.

"What's so great about the fall?" I asked.

"I don't really even know. Just most of my happy memories with my parents took place in the fall. Winters were always stressful with Christmas and such and they were always on business trips in the spring and summer. But in the fall, Darcy and I would mess around in the leaves while my parents watched us. They never fought during this time of year. It's the only time I can remember them genuinely looking happy, and it's one of my favorite memories of Darcy and I," Clare said with a light smile.

"Well, you and I can make some new memories, hm?" I said as I handed her a coffee.

"Or, we can re-live some old ones," she said with a smirk of her own as she handed me back the coffee and walked over to a pile of leaves.

"What are you doing?" I asked her. I was honestly curious.

"I'm having fun, mister!" she said as she proceeded to pick up a pile of leaves and throw them in the air.

She motioned for me to join her.

"Clare, I'm not going to play around in a bunch of leaves. We're too old for that stuff," I said, though she looked incredibly cute.

"No we aren't! Darce and I did this up until she left for Kenya! She was 18 and I was 14! It's so much fun! Come on Mr. Grouch! Please," she said with an adorable pout as she jumped into the pile of leaves.

How could I resist?

"Fine, but we are totally having a leaf fight," I said with a smirk.

"A leaf fight? But Eli, that's so lame and besides, we're much too old for that," Clare said as she tried to keep a serious face. She failed.

"Oh, you're gonna pay for that one, Edwards," I said as I began pelting her with leaves.

* * *

_Invitation only, grand farewells_

_Crash the best one, of the best ones_

_Clear liquor and cloudy-eyed, too early to say goodnight..._

_You have stolen my heart_

_You have stolen my heart_

If someone were to tell me that Clare Edwards was going to show up at my house, drunk, I would've laughed in their face. But here she was, eyes red and puffy from crying, standing on my doorstep.

"My parents are getting divorced," she lightly slurred.

"Clare? What did you have to drink?" I asked her tentatively.

"I don't know, it was clear. It made me feel better," she said as I brought her inside.

"You need to go home. Your parents are probably worried sick about you! Come on, I'll drive you," I said as I walked towards my front door.

"No! I can't go home! They don't care about me! Nobody's home, anyways. They both went to stay at hotels for the night. They forgot about me," Clare said sadly.

How could anyone forget about Clare Edwards? She was the epitome of perfection and she was my best friend. Of course, I wanted her to be more, but she was oblivious to that fact.

"Okay, Clare. You can stay here. I'll go get you a blanket," I said as she curled up on my couch.

I retrieved a blanket and walked back over to the couch to see that Clare had fallen asleep.

I placed the blanket over her sleeping figure and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead.

If only she could see how much I care about her...

* * *

_And from the ballroom floor we are in celebration_

_One good stretch before our hibernation_

_Our dreams assured and we all, will sleep well_

_Sleep well_

_Sleep well_

_Sleep well_

_Sleep well_

It was the biggest dance of the year – prom. Adam had rustled me into be a server. The only good part about going was that I would be able to watch over Clare. Jake Martin had asked her to go with him and she agreed. I hated that she was going with that lumberjack. Anyone could see that he didn't care about her. He had the hots for Jenna Middleton and was using Clare to make her jealous.

Clare walked in wearing a long purple dress that accentuated her figure. She looked beautiful. I swear, in that moment, I felt my heart stop. But then the lumberjack had to come up behind her and ruin everything. He whispered something into her ear and she gave me a small wave as they retreated in the opposite direction.

"I hate that guy. I really hate that guy," I said to Adam.

"Dude, everyone knows you hate him. It's obvious," Adam replied as he carried some cups over to the punch table.

"Not everyone," I muttered as I looked over at Clare.

Clare was smiling as Jake wrapped his arms around her petite waist. I couldn't watch this any longer.

"I'm going to get some air," I told Adam as I walked outside and sat on one of the benches.

I sat with my head in my hands but looked up when I heard an angelic voice mutter, "you were right." That voice could only belong to one person – Clare.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Jake's a jerk. You were right. He used me to get Jenna. You're always right and I never listen to you," Clare said sadly.

"You make it sound like I do it on purpose. Like I want you to be unhappy," I said with a frown.

"You're just looking out for me," she said with a small smile.

"You wanna get out of here? We could go watch some movies at my house. It'll be like old times," I said with a smirk.

"Yeah, like old times," she said as she grabbed my hand and began walking towards the parking lot.

* * *

_You have stolen my..._

_You have stolen my..._

_You have stolen my..._

_You have stolen my heart..._

_I watch you spin around in your highest heels_

_You are the best one, of the best ones_

_We all look like we feel_

As Clare and I were walking towards my hearse, we heard a crackle in the sky and were suddenly covered in falling raindrops.

I ran towards Morty but Clare stayed in place.

"Clare! Come on! Get in the hearse!" I yelled over the sound of the rain.

She shook her head. "No! I'm staying here!"

"What are you doing? You're gonna get sick!" I yelled.

"I don't care! This is riveting! I know it sounds weird, but I just need to stand here right now," Clare replied as she spread her arms out and spun around in a circle.

Of course, she had to pick today to wear high heels. I ran over to her and grabbed her spinning form.

"I don't want you to fall," I said as I looked into her blue eyes that had become darker from the rain.

"I won't. Not if you're here," she said with a smile as she looked at my lips.

She looked so beautiful, even soaking wet from the rain, and it was becoming harder and harder to control myself.

"Clare, I really want to kiss you right now," I said as I brushed her wet hair out of her face.

"I'm not stopping you," she said. "I've always wanted to be kissed in the rain."

"Lumberjack didn't do that with you?" I said with a chuckle.

She playfully slapped my chest. "Just shut up and kiss me, Eli!"

I didn't need to be told twice. I leaned in and captured her perfect lips and as I did so, it felt as if one hundred different fireworks were going off.

Much to my disappointment, Clare pulled away.

"Eli, does this mean we're together?" she asked as she stared into my eyes.

"Well, I know that I love you. I probably have since we became English partners. And I would love to be able to call you my girlfriend," I said seriously.

"I love you too! And I would love to be your girlfriend!" Clare said as she pulled me into a hug.

I pulled back and looked into her eyes, seeing that there were tears in them.

"Crying, Edwards?" I asked her.

"What? No! It's…the rain!" Clare said as she wiped the "rain tears" from her eyes.

"Mhm, sure Clare," I said with a smirk.

"So is my boyfriend gonna make fun of my tears of happiness or is he going to kiss me in the rain?" Clare asked with a smirk of her own. I've taught her well.

"Definitely the latter," I said as I leaned in again.

Clare Edwards, you have stolen my heart.

_You have stolen my_

_You have stolen my_

_You have stolen my_

_You have stolen my heart..._


End file.
